Danna Bodenheimer, A.B. '98, M.S.W. '05, DSW, LCSW
Deepening Clinical Practice Conference Plenary:
Beyond Diagnosis: Reclaiming the Neurodivergent Self Through Reflection, Care, and Accommodation
Instructor: Danna Bodenheimer, A.B. '98, M.S.W. '05, D.S.W., LCSW
Date and Time: July 31, 2026, 1 – 2:15 p.m.
CEs: 1.25 for licensed social workers
Course Description:
Advancing attunement in work with neurodivergent clients reexamines what “good therapy” has traditionally been understood to look like. Many neurodivergent clients have experienced a lifetime of being misunderstood, corrected, or shaped to meet expectations that do not align with their ways of being. Therapy should not replicate those dynamics.
This plenary explores how attunement shifts when clinicians move away from prioritizing neurotypical norms and instead center nervous systems, communication differences, and relational safety. We will examine common moments of misattunement, including subtle ruptures and well-intentioned missteps, while building language and awareness to reflect on these experiences without self-blame.
Through this lens, this plenary offers an opportunity to deepen clinical presence, adapt the therapeutic frame, and support client autonomy in ways that honor neurodivergent identities. This plenary invites clinicians into a more responsive, humane, and flexible approach to therapeutic connection.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will identify key elements of therapeutic attunement when working with neurodivergent clients.
- Participants will recognize common sources of misattunement in psychotherapy with neurodivergent individuals.
- Participants will describe how neurodivergent communication styles, sensory experiences, and pacing influence the therapeutic relationship.
- Participants will apply neuro-affirming adaptations to the clinical frame that reduce pressure on clients to mask or conform to neurotypical expectations.
- Participants will implement relational strategies that promote safety, autonomy, and authentic engagement for neurodivergent clients.
Danna Bodenheimer (she/her), founder and director of the Walnut Psychotherapy Center, has worked in the field of mental health for over 15 years. Her expertise is most centered around working with the LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent population. She takes different, cutting-edge approaches to thinking about and treating individual and organizational trauma. She has also long studied the impacts of dual marginalization on the psyches of individuals in treatment and in the workplace.
Bodenheimer received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Smith College, her post-baccalaureate degree from Columbia University and her doctorate in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught at Temple University, Rutgers University, Bryn Mawr College and Penn. She can easily discuss complex issues of life along the gender spectrum, neurodivergence, racial dynamics in the workplace and interpersonally, and the lifelong impact that trauma has on overall human functionality. She also authored two books on how to practice in the field of psychotherapy and has mentored hundreds of developing clinicians has they have grown their own practices.